are accorded 6 pages, the White Ants, 44. On the whole we like the retention of the almost Linnean system of classification, especially since the systems which are proposed in its place are open to almost as many objections as the older scheme; the remarks made upon this point seem to us especially appropriate. The illustrations, of which there are some 370, are all fresh and are very well engraved. Some of them would, we think, look better in "half-tone," especially those dealing with anatomical and developmental points, but against this is the apparent inability of English printers to get good results from such plates, (witness several translations from the German where these half-tone illustrations, beautifully printed in the original, are extremely muddy). One more fault and we are done. The price charged for the work seems to us much too high. W. Fraser Rae's biography of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, that remarkable man "who could rival Congreve in comedy and Pitt and Fox in eloquence" is announced by Messrs. Henry Holt & Co. It is to be in two volumes, and to include portraits and facsimile autographs of Sheridan and his famous contemporaries. Interesting documents written by the Prince of Wales, Sheridan, the Duke of Wellington, and the Marquis of Wellesley will be made public for the first time. The Introduction is by the Marquis of Dufferin and Ava, who is a great grandson of Sheridan. Geological Biology.'-This treatise, in octavo form of 395 pages, is a study of organisms and their time-relations. The general laws of evolution are stated, and their formulation explained by detailed descriptions of characteristic examples. The examples are, for the most part, taken from the invertebrate forms. Mutability of species is illustrated by Spirifer strictus Martin, var. S. loganii Hall, the progressive evolution of class, ordinal, subordinal, etc., characters, by Magellania flavescens; the modification of generic characters is shown by the lifehistories of Brachiopod families. The history of the Spirifers, a study of Cephalopods, and the evolution of the suture lines of Ammonoids, are each in turn used to demonstrate the fundamental laws of evolution. Throughout the book the author emphasizes the idea that these laws are best understood by a study of fossil forms. The closing chapter sets forth the philosophy of evolution from the author's point of view. Beginning with the statement that "Evolu 1 Geological Biology. An Introduction to the Geological History of Organisms. By Henry Shaler Williams. New York, 1895. Henry Holt & Co. tion is concerned with two distinct fields of human inquiry," he distinguishes them as follows: "On the one hand, evolution is the name for the natural order of unfolding of the characters of organic beings that have lived on the earth; on the other hand, evolution is the name for our conception of the mode of operation of the fundamental energy of the universe. Thus it will be seen that the notion of God is as intimately involved in a discussion of evolution as is the notion of an organism." He sees in evolution the mode of creation of organic beings, a process that has been more or less continuous throughout geologic ages. "It is this continuation of the process of phenomenalizing that distinguishes the mode of creation in the organic realm from that in the lower realm of inorganic matter. Whatever is characteristic of organisms was not created at once, but has been unfolded by degrees, and there is no reason for supposing that the process is not still going on. Such expressions as effort,' 'growth force,'' reactions,' etc., used in describing the phenomena of evolution, all express the notion of the preexistence of some unphenomenal property, or power, or potency, which constitutes the cause of the particular characters which are acquired by organisms in the process of their evolution." The tendency of organisms to vary is designated by the author as primarily a force acting from within, to which he gives the name "intrinsic evolution." Differentiation of form and function are expressions of vitality, but these are modified by conditions of environment and natural selection. A summary of the leading points in the work are thus given: "The great facts attested by geology are that the grander and more radical divergences of structure were earliest attained; that, as time advanced, in each line intrinsic evolution has been confined to the acquirement of less and less important characters; such facts emphasize with overwhelming force the conclusion that the march of the evolution has been the expression of a general law of organic nature, in which events have occured in regular order, with a beginning, a normal order of succession, a limit to each stage, and in which the whole organic kingdom has been mutually correlated." This book will prove instructive to the general reader, both on account of its facts and generalizations. The author, as a distinguished specialist in paleontology presents facts in an authoritative way, so that the reader may feel safe in his premises. The inferences made are obvious, so that while there is little exposition of efficient causes of evolution in the scientific sense, one can agree with the general conclu RECENT BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS. BOнм, J.-Die Gastropoden des Marmolatakalkes. Paleontographica, Bd. XLII, 4 u 5, Lief. Stuttgart, 1895. Bulletins No. 32 and 33, 1895, Agricultural Experiment Station of the Rhode Island Coll. Agric. and Mech. Arts. Bulletin 34, 1895, Hatch Experiment Station, Mass. Agric. College. Bulletins No. 91, 92 and 93 (n. s.), 1895, New York Agricultural Experiment Station. CALL, R. E.-The Unionidae of the Ohio River. -The Strepomatidae of the Falls of the Ohio. Extr. Proceeds. Indiana Acad. Sci., No. IV, 1894. From the author. CLEMENTS, J. M.-The Volcanics of the Michigamme District of Michigan. Extr. Journ. Geol., Vol. III, 1895. From the author. COOKE, M. C.-Down the Lane and Back. -Through the Copse. -A Stroll in a Marsh. -Around a Cornfield. London, Edinburgh and New York, 1895. T. Nelson & Sons. From the Pub. DWIGHT, T.-Notes on the Dissection and Brain of the Chimpanzee “Gumbo.” Extr. Mem. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. V, No. 2, 1895. From the author. FAIRCHILD, H. LE R.-Proceeds. of the Seventh Summer Meeting, Springfield, Mass., 1895. Extr. Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., 1895. From the Soc. FLORES, E-Catalogo dei mammiferi fosillii dell Italia Meridionale Continentale. Memoria presentata all'Accademia fontaniana nella tornata del 3 Nov., 1895. Napoli, 1895. From the author. Forty-third Annual Report of the Regents of the New York State Museum for the year 1889. GORDON, C. H.-Syenite-gneiss (Leopard rock) from the Apatite Region of Ottawa County, Canada. Extr. Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., 1895. From the Society. HARROP, H. B. AND L. A. WALLIS.-The Forces of Nature. 1895. From the authors. Columbus O., HILL, R. T.-Outlying Areas of the Comanche Series in Kansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. Extr. Am. Journ. Sci., Vol L, 1895. From the author. JORGENSEN, A.-Ueber den Ursprung der Alkoholhefen. From the author. Kopenhagen, 1895. JANET, C.-Sur Vespa crabro L. Histoire d'un nid depuis son origine. Extr. -Das Thierreich des Oberamis Cannstatt. Aus Oberamtsbeschreibung Cannstatt., 1895. From the author. LE CONTE, J.-Critical Periods in the History of the Earth. Extr. Bull. Dept. Geol. Univ. Cal., Vol I, 1895. From LYMAN, B. S.-Metallurgical and other Features of Japanese Swords. the Advance Sheets Journ. Franklin Inst., Jan., 1896.-The Yardley Fault; and the Chalfont Fault Rock, so-called. Extr. Proceeds. Am. Philos. Soc., Vol. XXXIV, 1895. From the author. MAGGI, L.-Manuali Hoepli CXCVI-CXCVII. Tecnica Protistologica. lano, 1895. From the Pub., U. Hoepli. Mi MATTHEW, W. D.-The Effusive and Dyke Rocks near St. John, N. B. Extr. Trans. New York Acad Sci., XIV, 1895. From the author. MERRIAM, C. H. AND G. S. MILLER, JR.-North American Fauna No. 10. Washington, 1895. From the U. S. Dept. Agric. MILLER, S. A. AND F. E. GURLEY.-Some New and Interesting Species of Paleozoic Fossils. Extr. Bull. No. 7, Illinois State Museum, 1895. MIVART, ST. G.-The Skeleton of Lorius flavopalliatus compared with that of Psittacus erithacus. Pt. I. Extr. Proceeds. London Zool. Soc., 1895. From the author. NEWTON, E. T.-On a Human Skull and Limb-bones found in the Paleolithic Terrace gravel at Galley Hill, Kent. Extr. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., 1895. From the author. PAQUIER, V.-Etude sur quelques Cétacés du Miocene. Extr. Mém. Soc. Geol. de France, Tome IV, fac. IV, Paris, 1894. From the author. PERACCA, M. G. D.-Sul fatto di due distinte dentizioni nella Tiliqua scincoides White. Extr. Boll. Mus. Zool. ed Anat Comp., 1895. From the author. POWELL, J. W.-Fourteenth Annual Report of the Director of the U. S. Geological Survey for the year 1892-3, Pts. I and II. the Survey. Washington, 1893. From Proceedings of the Seventh Annual Session of the Association of American Anatomists, Dec. 28, 29, 1894. PUMPELLY, R., J. E. WOLFF AND T. Nelson DaLE.-Geology of the Green Mountains of Massachusetts. Monographs of the U. S. Geol. Surv., Vol. XXIII. From the Survey. RAUFE, H.-Paleospongiologie. Paleontographica Bd. XLI, 5 u 6 Lief. Stuttgart, 1895. REIS, O. M.-Illustrationen zur Kenntnis des Skeletts von Acanthodes bronnii Agassiz. Aus Abhandl. Senckenb. naturf. Gesell. Frankfurt, a. M., 1895. From the author. Report of the Trustees of the Australian Museum for the year 1894. SMYTH, C. H.-Lake Filling in the Adirondack Region. Extr. Amer. Geol., Vol. XI, 1893. Extr. Rept. -Report on a preliminary examination of the general and economic Geology of four Townships in St. Lawrence and Jefferson Counties. State Geol. New York for 1893. Albany, 1894. -On Gabbros in the Southwestern Adirondack Region. Extr. Amer. Journ. Sci., Vol. XLVIII, 1894. A Geological Reconnaissance of the Vicinity of Gouverneur, N.Y. Extr. Trans. N. Y. Acad. Sci., 1893. -Petography of the Gneisses of the town of Gouverneur, N. Y. Extr. 1. c., Die Hämatile von Clinton in den östlichen Vereinigten Staaten. Aus Zeitschrift f. praktische Geologie, 1894 -Alnoite containing an uncommon variety of Melilite. Extr. Amer. Jour. Sci., 1893. -A Group of Diabase Dykes among the Thousand Islands, St. Lawrence River. Extr. Trans. New York Acad. Sci., Vol. XIII, 1894. 1894. -On a Basic Rock derived from Granite. Extr. Journ. Geol., Vol. II, -Crystalline Limestones and Associated Rocks of the Northwestern Adirondacks. Extr. Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., 1895. From the author. SPENCER, J. W.-Geographical Evolution of Cuba. Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., Vol. 7, 1895. From the Soc. UPHAM, W.-Drumlins aud Marginal Moraines of Ice Sheets. Extr. Bull. Geol. Sec. Amer., 1895. From the Soc. VEEDER, M. A.-Magnetic Storms and Sunspots. Lyons, N. Y., 1895. From the author. WHITEAVES, J. F.-Paleozoic Fossils, Vol. III, Pt. II, 1895. From the Canadian Geol. Survey. -List of Publications of the Geological Survey of Canada. From the Survey. Ottawa, 1895. WHITFIELD, R. P.-Mollusca and Crustacea of the Miocene Formations of New Jersey. Monographs of the U. S. Geol. Survey, Vol. XXIV. From the Survey. WILLIAMS, T.-The Future of the College. Extr. Proceedings Assoc. Coll. & Prep. Schools, 1894. From the author. General Notes. PETROGRAPHY.' Malignite, a New Family of Rocks.-Lawson' uses the name malignite for a family of basic orthoclase rocks constituting an intrusive mass, possibly laccolitic, in the schists around Poohbah Lake, in the Rainy River district, Ontario. Three phases of the intrusive mass are recognized-a nepheline-pyroxene-malignite, a garnet-pyroxenemalignite and an amphibole-malignite. The constituents common to all phases are orthoclase, aegerine-augite and apatite. In the nepheline variety the nepheline occurs as patches in the orthoclase, or as micropegmatitic intergrowths with it. The orthoclase is in poikilitic relations with all the other minerals, surrounding them like the glass 1 Edited by Dr. W. S. Bayley, Colby University, Waterville, Me. 2 Bull. Dept. of Geol. Univ. of California, Vol. I, p, 337. |